Consumers in today's society are provided with many different types of multimedia content. Indeed, it is often possible for any particular piece of information to be represented in the form of audio, television, text, video, still image, Internet Web page, or other multimedia format. Given the large amount of information available to consumers and given the many different multimedia formats available, it is beneficial to assist consumers in identifying, obtaining, and presenting pieces of multimedia content that may be of interest.
In the current world of television, movies, and related media systems, many consumers receive television programming-related content via broadcast over a cable network to a television or similar display, with the content often received via a set-top box (“STB”) from the cable network that controls display of particular television (or “TV”) programs from among a large number of available television channels, while other consumers may similarly receive television programming-related content in other manners (e.g., via satellite transmissions, broadcasts over airwaves, over packet-switched networks, etc.). In addition, enhanced television programming services and capabilities are increasingly being provided to consumers, such as the ability to receive television programming-related content that is delivered “on demand” using Video on Demand (“VOD”) technologies (e.g., based on a pay-per-view business model) and/or various interactive TV capabilities. Consumers generally subscribe to services offered by a cable network “head-end” or other similar content distribution facility to obtain particular content, which in some situations may include interactive content and Internet content.
Consumers of content are also increasingly using a variety of devices to record and control viewing of content, such as via digital video recorders (“DVRs”) that can record television-related content for later playback and/or can temporarily store recent and current content to allow functionality such as pausing or rewinding live television. A DVR may also be known as a personal video recorder (“PVR”), hard disk recorder (“HDR”), personal video station (“PVS”), or a personal television receiver (“PTR”). DVRs may in some situations be integrated into a set-top box, such as with Digeo's MOXI™ device, while in other situations may be a separate component connected to an STB and/or television. In addition, electronic programming guides (“EPGs”) are often made available to aid consumers in selecting a desired program to currently view and/or to schedule for delayed viewing. Using an EPG and a DVR, a consumer can cause a desired program to be recorded and can then view the program at a more convenient time or location.
As another example, the Internet has become a frequently used source of multimedia content. Consumers may obtain music downloads, pictures, audio or video clips, graphical or textual information, or other multimedia content by accessing suitable Web sites and downloading the desired piece(s) of multimedia content from the accessed Web site(s).
However, as the multimedia industry grows and as additional types of content are increasingly being stored and made available to consumers, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to effectively manage the content and the related capabilities of the various devices that are available to present the content or to control the content presentation. Moreover, the increase in number and types of media devices within homes (e.g., televisions, handheld and desktop computing systems, stereos, speakers, cellphones, DVRs, STBs, etc.) makes the task of effectively presenting and otherwise managing the multimedia content even more difficult. For example, it is quite common for each consumer's household to possess several remote controls, with each remote control being operative to control only its corresponding media device. Thus, consumers are forced to familiarize themselves with the features of each individual remote control, which can become difficult or frustrating to a consumer as additional media devices (and their remote controls) are added to a household or whenever such media devices are modified or upgraded to other models and versions. Moreover, in some situations, various electronic devices in the household may not have associated remote controls or may otherwise require the consumer to actively operate their controls, which similarly can lead to difficulties and frustrations for the user.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.